We walked another minute or two in silence. The further we got from Wendwood, the looser Penny became.
“You were going to tell me what the Symbiarch told you yesterday,” I prompted. “About the gods.”
When he looked over at me, he cracked the first smile I’d seen in what felt like days. It was worn and weary, but it held a sort of ease, like a weight was gone from his shoulders and he could move freely again. In that moment, he was the most stunning I’d ever seen him.
He drew us to a stop. We paused in the middle of the road, and he slid his arms around my waist so he could press in and rub his nose against mine.
“She told me a lot of things. About how the Bone Men twisted who Eeus really is. How the gods used to come down and walk among us.” His smile turned wistful. “And she told me that Paneus and Eeus need each other, and one can’t exist without the other. How they’re two halves of a whole.”
After the last few awful days, it was a comfort to see some of his brightness returning. He was practically vibrating with excitement, and his bandaged hands slid inside my overalls and dipped under the hem of my shirt to trace a chilly trail up my back. I crowded closer and pulled him flush against me as his lips hovered barely a breath away from mine.
“She said they’re lovers,” he whispered. His eyes shone with unshed tears, but not from sorrow. This was long-awaited relief. “They're like us, Kit. Like me. All this time I thought I was strange or wrong, but I’m not.”
“Of course you’re not.” I leaned my forehead against his. “You’re divine, and you always have been. It’s about time you realize it, too.”
He laughed, and I couldn’t remember ever hearing anything so beautiful.
I closed the scant distance between us and stole a lingering kiss while Penny’s fingers traced along my spine. It was a moment of much needed normalcy. I loved being this close to him and finding comfort in each other, even when things looked dark.
I pulled back when Penny’s hands slid low enough to warrant a retreat.
“Now,” I murmured against his lips, “let’s get those mittens on you so you can stop using my backside to thaw your fingers.”
16
Penny
“Kit, slow down…”
My tongue felt as numb as my face, hands, and feet. The scarf and mittens provided some relief, but they weren't fit to withstand two full days of trudging along snow-packed roads as the temperature continued to plummet.
Home before dark, Kit had promised, but the sun was already halfway below the horizon. That was why he was rushing. But as eager as I was to reach the warmth of our little cottage, I couldn't make my legs move any faster or force my lungs to swell enough to draw a full breath. Wheezing and dizzied and bone cold, I kept falling behind.
Kit was a few paces ahead, and he turned to my request. He looked haggard, his pale face chapped and his lips dry and cracked. But his eyes were soft, always soft for me, and he hurried to close the gap between us.
He opened his patched cloak and slung it around my shoulders, drawing us close for added warmth. It made for slower progress, but a pace I could manage as I leaned heavily against him.
“Sorry.” The word whooshed out on a short breath. I’d all but given up talking as it was apt to spur a coughing fit that made my raw throat burn.
I was tired. Tired of being sick and weak, tired of walking, tired of the cold and the wet and the wind that whipped around me and slipped through every seam in my borrowed clothing. But Kit was tired, too, and it did no good to complain. So, I kept quiet, focused on those fluttering little gasps that were enough to keep me conscious, and I moved.
“Don’t apologize.” Kit hugged his arm around my shoulders. “Won’t do me any good to get there without you.”
I nodded, still clinging to the hope of home where I might actually be relieved to see a fire if it meant taking the chill out of my fingers.
“We’re close.” I flicked my gaze ahead toward Ashpoint’s hidden encampment. I was finally becoming familiar enough with the area to recognize the landscape. “I can walk on my own. Don’t want to give anyone ideas.”
Righting myself, I started to slide away from him, but Kit shifted his hand down to my side and squeezed.
“Let them have their ideas,” he murmured.
I smiled weakly and tucked back into him, going so far as to tip my head onto his shoulder. The warmth of his neck was like a kiss to my skin. I wanted to nuzzle into it, bury myself in it, close my eyes and?—
“Halt!”
Kit drew us to an abrupt stop, and I perked up to peer at the flock of men who had emerged seemingly from nowhere. They wore heavy wool clothing to combat the snow, and masks that covered most of their faces, presumably for the same reason, but it made them look ominous. After living in Ashpoint for months, I was able to recognize most of its citizens, but the masks made these people strangers to me, even if they weren’t.
Three of them surrounded Kit and I in a half circle, I thought, until I glanced over my shoulder and found two more taking positions behind us. A couple had crossbows drawn and aimed, and I shrunk from the sight.
